Podcast

My Spiritual Journey

Having been raised by a Hindu father and a Christian mother, I have decided not to put myself into either of those boxes. I believe in God; I know others like to call ‘it’ a ‘higher power’ or ‘the universe’. I’ve grown up with ‘God’ and that term still works for me.

My sister and I occasionally accompanied our dad to the temple. We went to church with our mum pretty much every Sunday and it was there that my spiritual foundations and moral framework was formed.

I am in awe of Jesus and want so much to learn from his ways and follow his example. I can honestly say that knowing Jesus has changed my life and made it all worthwhile. Still, if I’m being honest with you, feel tentative and at times with being called a ‘Christian’ for three main reasons:

The term implies quite a few beliefs or values that I personally cannot align myself with

I cannot squeeze myself into that box

I don’t think Jesus came to create a religion

It’s possible to describe God but impossible to define God. So, it makes sense for me to be able to describe my spirituality without having to define it.

I do, however, plan on spending the rest of my life trying to figure out what all of this is about because this relationship with God has had a profound impact on my life and is life itself to me.

It’s very important to my husband and I to raise our daughter as a critical thinker with her head screwed on tight but also to have a strong set of values and her own spirituality and relationship with her creator, whatever that looks like for her.

If I grew up Buddhist, I’d explore this from a Buddhist standpoint. If I was more involved with practising Hindusim with my dad’s side of the family, I’d explore spirituality with a Hindu lens. Same goes if I was Muslim, Jewish, Bahá'í, Jain, Sikh, etc.

But seeing as I’ve grown up with a Christian faith, that is the paradigm through which I’m going to approach this project. That doesn’t mean I’m not a student of other faiths. I think there is so much beauty and goodness to be taken away from other cultures and faiths and if you come from another faith, you are so welcome to join us.

I understand there are many people who don’t believe in God at all. My job is not to change their minds. I respect the conclusions they have come to. And I have my own conclusions. I simply cannot look around me and and back at the life I have lived and honestly deny God’s presence in my life.

I have no desire to ‘convert’ people through this platform. Rather, it’s a forum for like-minded people to explore and expand their world view and spirituality. If my story resonates with you, you might get something out of this project. If not, no worries!

If you’re new to this whole thing, welcome! And if there’s any way I can support you (now that you have a snapshot of some of my beliefs), please feel free to get in touch.

If you’re a thinker, it’s definitely for you. Ask your difficult questions. Question what you’ve been taught in church. Reflect harder. Be a more intentional seeker. Get yourself out of the boxes that have conveniently categorised you. Peel off the labels people put on you.

Take the Christianese out of your mouth and tell us what you think. We don’t have all the answers but we’re open to discuss.

P.S. The reason for this ‘podcast’ being on YouTube rather than iTunes is to enable a space for discussion in the comments. Hope to see you there!

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